Working in Cameroon
In Cameroon, the vast majority of workers are in the informal sector, unemployment hits the cities hardest, and civil service entrance exams open only a few thousand places each year. This section brings together what you need to know to find a job, understand your rights as an employee, read your payslip, join the civil service, train, start a business or return from the diaspora, with figures that are always dated and sourced.
Key figures
- 60,000 CFA francsmonthly minimum wage in the non-farm private sector, since March 2023
- 86.6%of jobs are informal (INS, EESI 3, 2021)
- 6.1%ILO unemployment rate (INS, 2021)
- 15.4%unemployment in Douala, 11.7% in Yaoundé (INS, 2021)
- ≈ 2,265places in the 2026 civil service exams (MINFOPRA)
Where to start
- Cameroon's minimum wage (SMIG): amounts, decrees and historySince 2023 Cameroon's minimum wage has three rates: 60,000 CFA (private), 45,000 (farming) and 43,969 (state employees). Decrees and history.
- Reading and calculating your payslip in CameroonCNPS 4.2%, income tax of 10-35%, council surtax, housing fund, broadcasting fee, local tax: Cameroon payroll deductions and a worked net pay example.
- The CNPS, Cameroon's social security fund for employeesContribution rates, the ceiling, registration, online declarations, family allowances, maternity, work injury and voluntary insurance.
- Civil service entrance exams in CameroonENAM, ENS, Polytechnic, medicine, gendarmerie: age and diploma rules, fees, timing, where to find official notices and how to avoid scams.
- Starting a business in CameroonSole trader, SARL, SAS or SA: minimum capital, notary rules, CFCE paperwork, real costs and timescales for registering a business in Cameroon.
- How much do people earn in Cameroon? Incomes and wagesAverage and median income from the INS, the 2023 minimum wage, collective agreement scales, GDP per head: what Cameroonians really earn.
The job market
Unemployment, underemployment, the informal sector and who is hiring: dated figures. · 4 pages
- Youth employment in Cameroon: unemployment, informal work, schemesUnemployment, underemployment and informal work according to the INS and World Bank, graduate joblessness, the FNE and special recruitment drives.
- Which sectors are hiring in CameroonFarming, trade, services, the big employers, Buea's tech scene and import substitution: where Cameroon's jobs are, with dated figures.
- How much do people earn in Cameroon? Incomes and wagesAverage and median income from the INS, the 2023 minimum wage, collective agreement scales, GDP per head: what Cameroonians really earn.
- Informal work in Cameroon: bendskin, buyam-sellam and small trades86.6% of jobs are informal: definition, trades, incomes, social security, tax and formalisation, based on the INS's EESI 3 survey.
The civil service
Entrance exams, recruitment and careers in government service. · 4 pages
- Joining the civil service in CameroonCivil servant or contract staff, grades A to D, age limits, application file, staff number and AIGLES: how people join Cameroon's civil service.
- Civil servants' pay in CameroonBase pay, the 2023 and 2024 rises, pension deductions, payslips on AIGLES and back pay: what is actually known about civil servants' pay.
- Civil servants' careers and retirement in CameroonPromotion, discipline, retirement at 55 or 60, how the pension is calculated, advance pensions and delays: a Cameroonian civil servant's career.
- Civil service entrance exams in CameroonENAM, ENS, Polytechnic, medicine, gendarmerie: age and diploma rules, fees, timing, where to find official notices and how to avoid scams.
Labour law and social security
Contracts, the minimum wage, the CNPS and private-sector pensions. · 8 pages
- Cameroon's Labour CodeThe 1992 law, the 40-hour week, a minimum working age of 14, labour inspection, strikes and tribunals: what Cameroon's Labour Code says.
- Employment contracts in CameroonFixed-term contracts of up to two years, renewable once, probation of 15 days to 4 months by category, written contracts, visas for foreigners: the rules.
- Dismissal and resignation in CameroonNotice, severance of 20 to 40% of monthly pay per year, damages, redundancy, appeals: what Cameroonian law says when a job ends.
- Cameroon's minimum wage (SMIG): amounts, decrees and historySince 2023 Cameroon's minimum wage has three rates: 60,000 CFA (private), 45,000 (farming) and 43,969 (state employees). Decrees and history.
- Paid leave, maternity leave and public holidays in CameroonOne and a half days' leave a month, 14 weeks' maternity leave, 10 days for family events and the 2026-2027 public holidays: what the law says.
- Reading and calculating your payslip in CameroonCNPS 4.2%, income tax of 10-35%, council surtax, housing fund, broadcasting fee, local tax: Cameroon payroll deductions and a worked net pay example.
- The CNPS, Cameroon's social security fund for employeesContribution rates, the ceiling, registration, online declarations, family allowances, maternity, work injury and voluntary insurance.
- Private-sector retirement: the CNPS old-age pensionAge 60, 180 months of contributions, 30% of average pay plus 1% per extra year: conditions, calculation, survivors, invalidity and the claim.
Training
Vocational training, apprenticeships and retraining. · 1 page
Starting a business
Setting up and running a business in Cameroon. · 4 pages
- Tontines in Cameroon: njangi, meetings and auctionsContributions, turns, auctions and mutual aid: how Cameroonian tontines work, how many people save in them, and the risks they carry.
- Starting a business in CameroonSole trader, SARL, SAS or SA: minimum capital, notary rules, CFCE paperwork, real costs and timescales for registering a business in Cameroon.
- Business taxes in CameroonThe IGS below 50 million CFA, the real regime, 33% or 27.5% corporate tax, 19.25% VAT, business licence and CGAs: SME taxation in 2026.
- Financing a business in CameroonBank rates for SMEs, microfinance, the SME bank, FOGAJEUNE, PAJER-U, incubators and mobile money: where to find money to start a business.
Coming to work in Cameroon
Returning from the diaspora, or moving to Cameroon as a foreigner. · 2 pages
- Moving back to work in Cameroon from the diasporaIs dual nationality banned? Visas, recognition of foreign degrees, remittances and support schemes: what to know before moving back to Cameroon.
- Working in Cameroon as a foreignerLong-stay visa, work contract approval (one to two months' pay), residence card, e-visa, CEMAC rules and social security: how to work in Cameroon.
Our method
Every figure in this section comes from a source listed at the bottom of the page: official texts, government bodies, specialist organisations, the Cameroonian press and international organisations. Fees, timescales and results change often, so they are always dated. When sources disagree, we say so rather than pick one.